Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-04-16

II might DO asked, which OF these several
datss will eventually come TO 10 the uuiver.
sally e0Oep.ed ono In r0ck OnlDg the ego OF the
institution, Each Of them hes spscisl claim
they cannot oil pass current, however. One
Of them will win tor oil prscticsl purposes
and that doubtlsAs the ono whicn deserves 70
yin. We have no misgiving - 70 what that
date Will be Tho simple beginning 70 from
college, taking in what u its own IN name
and fsctA, cclsofs,ss In this year Of iss7 III
hrst centennial
I.ookins nov st ths college from this csn.
tennial point Of view, We sss Anumbef OF
GREAT NAMES
Immediately Counected with ~ history Of
which any college constituency In Amsft,a
might justly feel proud. There 10 BeuJ Jsmin
lin, the "founder," In osrtain sense.
His Keen Insight and warm intArest In the
him 70 sse tho need for such On institution -
this was designed to ia Tho Gsrinans of the
state we're . large aud growing section OF the
population, industriOuA economic, 70
higher education we're peculiar, and such
m could not bs mc', 70 suy considsrable
extent, by the tniversity, sstabilshed
some ysars previous, In Philsdelphia They
needed au Institution Of . character suited
u themselves and under their own guidance.
Hence the somewhat cumbrous provisions OF
the charter Of franklin college and hence,
also, its location at Lancaster, the centre Of
the German settlements. Ffsnkiin's con.
nection with the movement was not scci.
dental, nor merely complimentary. lie
knew we'll the class OF people for whom
tho college was intended, and appreciated
their solid worth ~ citizsns he had pub.
lished and circulated among them number
Of books In their language, and WAS on terms
Of intimacy with nearly oil their representa.
tive mon. That he gave his great influence,
and literally Of hts means, for the establish.
mont and peculiar organization Of the college,
which oil concerned felt should bear his nauie,
we look uJon as an act OF his deliberate judg
mont ~ 20 what the csse demanded. Whist
the University. which was equally dear 70
him, was 70 Pniiadelphia that franklin oil.
l0go should be u the Interior OF tho state.
But the movement was not . one mans
affair, however great and honored that man.
"RObert Morris, the tinancsr OF the Amegi.
can Revolution, contributed six hundred dol.
lars and Benjamin Rush, the prince OF ply
sicianA Wa not only liberal patron, but an
activo promoter OF the enterprise. Among
the early trustees were Generals Muhlsnberg
and Miiiiin, Governors Snyder and Hester,
and many other mon whose names are emil.
nent In the history Of the state and the
nation" In the fret faculty We find the
names Of ORA II. E Muhlsn 6erg and WIN.
Heudel, and OF Prof +. V. Melsheifner, sll
prominent In their day.
Oi Marshall college It may be said that the
leading members Of i,s faculty were its prin.
cipal endowment 1t was never rich in
money, but II was ai ways rich In the posses
sion OF instructors who could impress their
thought upon the people whom they served,
and upon the age in which they lived. The
names Of Rsuch, Nevin and Schah-to select
tho most noted-bavs become household
words among US, while their tame has gone
TO other landa DR. +. A. Rsuch, the first
president Of Marshall college, like Iwingl,
died young, aud yet he lived long enough TO
give evidence OF possessing brilliant Rifts OF
mind and heart, and to open the way for q
new line OF Philusoph,c and Christian
thought In his adopted country, which Is t.
day more or less dominant throughout the
Protestant world. lie WAS not It's author; i
but he was probably the first person In
America who understood, adopted and sue
cessfully taught It by pen aud by speech. |
He brought the institution over which he |
presided into felt aynpathy with the teach. |
ings OF the leading Christian thinkers Of |
Germany. That was work great enough
for one man to do |
never officially member Of the faculty Of
Marshal! college, The relation OF the theo- |
theogical seminary at Mercersburg, in which |
he was for many years professor, WAS, how.
sves, 40 close To the college, that the differ.
sncs Of position WAS more In form than in
fact He influenced the students not the lsss
The college and the seminary were, to . large
extent, inseI~rabla As he IL still living,
huu tIlueUt IcputAtlOn ~ now D0yOnu
question, We wish simply to lay stress here
on one determining fact During his conpec. |
ton with the institution at Mercersburg DR.. |
Schaff laid the broad foundation on which his |
subsequent renown has been built That was |
the heroic period Of his life, and herOicAlly he |
bore himself. Principles, modes OF thought |
and forms ot expression, which are now the |
common propsrty Of philOsophic and theO-
logic thinkers, were then In their incipiency,
opposed because new, hated because not un. |
dAFatOOd and him. in COnUaCfiOn with /
his illustrious colleague, DR.. Nevin, fell the |
task, ss to none others, OF bringing about |
their acceptance on this side OF the Atlantic. |
To US 1t seems tnst he d Id his great liie.w
that upon which his fame at last Will mainly |
rest, then and there whatever ~ subse Quent |
flows substantially therefrom ~ result
There Ia one other name which every one
will recall In this connection. 1t In that OF
WAS president OF Marshall college from 1861
70 1886 professor of history and aesthetics, |
and from 1886 To 1876 president OF franklin
and Marshall college, This last act was of
the surface. 1t not only brought two weak
colleges together to make one respectable
strong one. 1t united substantially the prin.
citees on which both were founded, and
made possible the aspirations OF each To an
extent, probably eIualed by no other person,
he WAS also instrumental in bringing 10 intel.
ligent self consciousness the people who will |
always make up the principal constitu.
ency Of the united college. He did this In
many waya and through . long series OF |
years We need not particulsrizs here the
fact itself stands out boldly. 1t 10 difficult to
determine the influence DIR. Nevin exertsd
In this direction II was 30 many sided, and
went far boy Ond its immediate relation to the
college and the denomination under whose
special care 1t stands. These are matters we |
want n recall, and write In bold relief, dur
ing this centennial year OF the institution tor |
which he worked 10 uthfuily, on 30 broad q
basis. % brilliantly, during the best part OF
long life.
II IL not necessary here to do more than
kind disposition, his unsws wing uprig rightnsss,
his self sacrificing spirit, his untiring indus
try and comprehensive learning we're ever |
the admiration OF his students, aud acted as q /
kindling tire TO make lem batter aud greater. |
He was Q Christian In every fbre OF his /
being . philosopher born among theolo-